Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The Indignity of Commuting by Bicycle: Ramming Speed!

So yesterday I'm riding through Manhattan, heading east across Bowery:

As I'm going through the intersection, a cop blips his siren, comes at me at me at full ramming speed and slams on his brakes with about an inch to spare. (He might have actually hit me if I hadn't sort of twisted my body to avoid the bumper in an impressive display of on-the-bike yoga.)

Then he flipped me off (you can't see it in the video but I can assure you it happened), peeled out, and left me wondering what the fuck had just happened.

Only afterwards did I remember I was riding with the Fly6, and through the magic of seatpost-mounted technology here it is on video:

The best I can come up with was that the light had just turned yellow as I entered the intersection so maybe he was trying to teach me some kind of lesson, though even if I'd actually run a red light (which I hadn't), nearly ramming me and then speeding off seems just a tiny bit excessive. Or, maybe he was in "hot pursuit" of a "suspect" and I just happened to get in the way. He did turn on his siren shortly after peeling out again, though he only left it on for a few seconds, and from what I can tell he was only using it to run the red light up ahead at Chrystie Street. (We've all seen how they do that.)

Isn't it funny how a cop can threaten your life and then say "fuck you," yet you still search for ways to blame yourself?

Anyway, so there you go. Already, the Fly6 has proved its worth, if only for entertainment purposes.

By the way, apart from the cop, I had exactly zero (0) frustrating interactions with operators of motor vehicles, which is pretty astounding and nearly unheard of on a round-trip commute spanning three (3) boroughs. I did, however, have to deal with these things:

I thought they were being blown out of the bike lane by a mighty crosswind, but it turned out they were just avoiding an obstacle:

As for me, I rode right through it:

Though only after first purchasing a dedicated gravel bike at Paragon right down the street, which I returned immediately after conquering the treacherous sector.

None of which I used, because I got home well before dark thanks to this whole "daylight savings" thing.

Incidentally, speaking of Frankenbikes, does yours have a solid-axle hub converted to a quick release and then converted back to a bolt-on with a hex key wheel skewer? Because mine does:

I'm rolling on a 360-degree kludge, and that's how I like it.

And on the subject of frontal lights with large amounts of lumens, a number of commenters yesterday pointed out that they're rude, blinding, arrogant, and so forth. This is a good point, and I certainly wouldn't even think of using that big one anyplace where there was significant bike traffic. I would, however, use it someplace with no traffic and no streetlights, though I'd still angle it down, so as not to inadvertently sear any retinas, and to reveal obstacles such as this:

I do stand by using a front blinky of reasonable lumens in an urban setting though, both as a driver and a cyclist. 96% of drivers can barely parallel park, and your blinky could be the only thing keeping one of them from running you over in reverse because "they didn't see you." As it is, they have a hard enough time not driving onto subway trains:

The southbound Q train had just left the Church Avenue station about 5 a.m. when the woman plowed through a fence near Albemarle Road and East 16th Street, creating a kind of ramp that allowed her to settle her front tires atop the train, according to an NYPD spokesman and a witness.The woman who was behind the wheel walked away from the incident and still hasn't been found, the police spokesman said.

I'm sure it wasn't her fault. Could happen to anybody. She was probably blinded by a cyclist with too many lumens.

Either that, or she was possessed by the spirit of John Frankenheimer.

The driver saw that Nissan / Honda / Mazda wtf...SUV late for work commercial and tried to drive on top of the train like the Bollywood chick did. The commercial also has a sprinkling of some fixie poseurs for for flavor.

The disclaimer says something like "Do Not Try / Fantasy ...".

I ride with the strobes on day or night. The Blackburn standard Flea has a nominal amount of lumens. The Super Flea has yet to be used. My red ano Knog tail light is great. Has taken the place of the ever awesome Planet Bike Blinkie.

"Fantasy/do not try" - good description of most car ads these days. Seems like they become more unhinged from reality with each go-round. I suppose reality type stuff is a terrible way to sell cars, since reality is actually a place where cars make less sense than ever, and people who insist on driving them could be described as being out of touch with reality and/or living in a fantasy.

I sure am italicky today.

Favorite part of the ad is the old-timey train conductor who's inexplicably still employed and goes "Whaaa?!"

Super-bright lights made by people who don't understand lighting, like Knog, and every other American bike light company, are intensely irritating to drivers, pedestrians, and other cyclists, because the light pattern is stupid.

Notice that car headlights, which are brighter than all but the brightest bike lights, don't blind oncomers. That's because the light is shaped.

Flashlight style lights suck, period. If you want a good light, you have to get one from Germany, where they not only know how to make them but where the light pattern is regulated by law. A B&M Ikon, for example, is quite bright but doesn't blind anyone.

As for blinkies, front or rear, they are a worthless abomination and should be shunned.

Those Knog ones are fricking called BLINDER for fricksake. It's right there in the name. Mind you I am not badmouthing a sponsor of these blogulations. In a world where pe

Cue Don LaFontaine movie-trailer voice: IN A WORLD...

ONE MAN...

Anyway in a world where people could be trusted to use them shits responsibly/correctly there would theoretically be no problem making a light and even calling it a Blinder. Just like I don't be hating on gun makers or tobacco companies etc. since blablabla.

What about this business right here? Saw it on Shark Tank. It lights the road ahead, provides front rear AND SIDE visibility, but I can't quite tell how annoying it is when oncoming. Downside: it costs over $100 and is complicated. Upside-downside, complicated means it's too much of a pain in the ass to steal. And they also said they'll soon offer it in a "built right into the wheel" version. Though in that case they better be good at wheelbuilding.

KNOG is Australianese. My Blinder kept involuntarily going into seizure mode everytime I hit a bump and they kindly sent me a new one no charge. I put the old one on our ceiling fan in the master suite.

As long as peeps in cars continue to use handheld electronic devices and engage in other activities besides driving while driving I will continue to calibrate the beam pattern of my forward firing blinkies to approximately 44" - 54" (111.76cm - 137.16cm) above ground level and always run them in flash mode.

NYPD Car #4147... that Fly6 nabbed the plate clearly enough... Should be fairly straightforward to ID the orifice(r) in a such a hurry. Perhaps some quality patrol time on a NYPD Citibike-equivalent may improve his road-side manners ?

Any one who thinks rear blinkies aren't essential kit really needs try driving a car at night in a city some time. The issue is as much cutting though light clutter as luminosity. The funky rhythm ones are even better at that. I can't believe I'm being serious here.

I completely agree with Jim, you should file a complaint against NYPD car number #4147. What he did was not only reckless and dangerous but he is police officer whose job it is to protect the public not molest it. Come on Wildcat nail that mother fucker. He likely will just get reprimanded but will go down in his "file" and maybe the porcine, donut eating little bitch will think twice before doing something like that again. Or you could just post it on Youtube.

Fnarf, Unfortunately here in New York City you have to use lights to increase your chances of getting home alive. Also as pointed out above the rear blinking red light is required by law. Sorry for not being a lighting professiona. but I have a real job. and Knog is Australian you rube. Also, the Germans were great at making lamp shades but luckily those days are long gone. Das ist alles, doofus.

I am happy not to know what is behind me. If it catches me i won't be watching the video later anyway, although I am sure it will be helpful at the inquest. Satchel Paige had a quote that said it better.

Lumen up! I want to be noticed on the road - in a state that isn't quite used to having people on bikes (well, except the people who salmon up a sidewalk - even if there is a bike lane right next to them. I want to tell them they should use the bike lane, that you don't need a fancy cycle bike that cost thousands of dollars, that their wal mart mountain bikes are worthy of using the same lane in which my own frankenbike is occupying. I want to be mad at them for NOT using a lane that was made with the explicit purpose of riding a bike in, but I can't be too mad because they are on a bike. I chalk it up to them not really knowing any better, and maybe seeing me in the lane will inspire them one day). I don't care if it annoys a driver, at least they notice me.

Realizing this is a bike blog that's heavy on the humor, I long ago assumed that the Snob's puffery of NYC and denigration of those un-NYC places were merely attempts at being funny. I read the NY Times, etc. and have had a trip to NYC on my radar for quite some time. But I increasingly have begun to doubt that I'll ever get back to NYC. The cops are the scariest things there and the major reason I doubt I'll return.

If you saw him and his lights were on, then you're suppose to yield regardless of who had the ROW. Even if he ran your @rse over, there would be no money for your mangled body. Delancy is hellish on a bike.

FRONT: one steady (non-blinking), powerful light cast downwards illuminating an area ahead of you at a distance to be determined by your speed. Slower, closer. Faster, further.

REAR: two lights, one steady, one blinking. Just one steady light at the rear is easily lost in the jumble of city lights and reflections etc. The blinking light captures the attention and the steady light allows continuing visual tracking. So you can ride secure in the knowledge that cops would never miss you.

A steady-state stupid-high-lumen light is annoying, but a strobing one is just road rage inducing.

HITME-HITME-HITME-HITME.

Under 50 lumens, sure, blink away. Rear blinkies are good too. For that matter, forget about lumens and buy lux. Then you know most of your lumens are lighting your way instead of the sky. Of course, then you'll start sprechen sie deutsch.

It's too bad this guy didn't have a Vanity6 camera on his bike. And where did the mattress come from? Off the truck?WTF of the Day: Car Runs Into Cyclist and Everything Works Out Better Than Expected http://cheezburger.com/59406593?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+failblog+%28The+FAIL+Blog+-+Fail+Pictures+%26+Videos+at+Failblog.ORG%29

vsk said: ------------------Fnarf said...Super-bright lights made by people who don't understand lighting, like Knog, and every other American bike light company, are intensely irritating to drivers, pedestrians, and other cyclists, because the light pattern is stupid.

Notice that car headlights, which are brighter than all but the brightest bike lights, don't blind oncomers. That's because the light is shaped.

Flashlight style lights suck, period. As for blinkies, front or rear, they are a worthless abomination and should be shunned.

March 19, 2014 at 1:04 PM-------------------------I really don't give a shit what f-narf said. Yes, it's the internet and I'm gonna flex my internet muscles and have a fight!!

This douche must be some bike hating car troll. It was previously said by astute commenters that the blinkies help you stand out from the other light distractions. The light is shaped?? You mean "AIMED" as in aimed downwards. KNOG is Australian, as the others also pointed out.I'd rather irritate a driver a little than end up under his/her conveyance because I had a beam amied and shaped and fucking the ground where it does no good.

Airplanes have strobes... pretty annoying to look at on the taxiway but you don't stare into the damn things! Why do they have them?? To be friggin seen!! That's why.

The best flashlights are from Cree and Fenix. And come from a nice sweatshop no where near you (Deutschland). Their beams can be aimed, shaped and focused.

Cibie and Hella headlights in cars have prisms and lenses in their glass. They both help aim the light and determine the cutoff point so as not to blind oncoming traffic. See: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

Same with decent headlamps on bikes, but at a cost as high as car headlights, or higher. Search Edelux or go to Peter White's website. When you consider that some of these lights are equal to half of a department store bike's cost, you see why few people have them. Even if you molded a lens for the light that was proper, the average bike rider is not going to be to anal about aiming it correctly.

I believe you. This type of police behavior is fairly typical and seems to be designed to cut through traffic even in non-emergency situations. I was nearly hit by a cop in the 9th Avenue bike lane when he decided to pull an illegal left (he had a red light) as i was going straight through the intersection. When i shouted "WTF" he flipped his lights, siren and flipped the bird. He then of course turned them off as soon as he made the turn.

Officer Fife couldn't have been in too big a hurry if he took the time to harass WCRM. His later actions also indicate nothing more than entitled bullying. Maybe he was held up in his donut run by having to stop to assist some goddamned person in trouble, and needed to take it out on someone.

At the moment, I have a Cateye on steady at rear (on the end of my rack), and a Lezyne something-or-other drive (the round one with three LEDs) on my seatpost on "daylight flash" (dee-dee, dee-dee, &c), and another Lezyne something-or-other on my stem on "daylight flash", and a two years old Lezyne Powerdrive as a headlight.

Lighting your bike up like an Xmas tree is very this season, and it means the sod who runs me down cannot get away with SMIDSY (or, if they try it they'll look pretty stupid).

I always thought bike headlights should be aimed at the road ten-to-fifteen feet in front of you. Which I do. I mean, cars always have their headlights properly aligned so as not to dazzle other road users, don't they???

Don't sell yourself short. Not only did you do some on-the-bike yoga but you also managed to simultaneously exclaim, "whoa, whoa, whoa."

Pretty impressive stuff. Is it just me or do I hear the siren before you pull into the intersection. In which case, you are somewhat to 100% at fault. I know this is your blog and all, and I'm just a guest here and you might throw me out but it seems like I hear that siren first.

Can I get a Sranus somebody???!!! No, well how about's a Presi Toodsce???!!!

The way I read your video, your light was green at 0:20, and turned yellow at 0:21 (when you are very nearly completely clear of the intersection). Watch the traffic light in the upper right of the frame for the change.

Rear blinkies hypnotize drivers into steering right for you and mowing you down. That's why you shouldn't have rear lights. I overheard a woman say this at the Seattle Bike Expo a few years ago, so I know it to be fact. From what I can surmise, if you are invisible, they can drive right through you and you will come out unharmed.

I'm trying to figure out how you got to Kenmare St...Straight down Fifth Ave to Washington Sq, then a left til Broadway...down B'way to Spring St...a left on to Spring and you're headed east until Lafayatte...a right on to Lafayette (Lafayette south of Spring is one-way in southerly direction...north of Lafayette it's one-way uptown)...and a left turn on Lafayette brings you to Kenmare. The Son of Scattante is a nice city build.

For all of you who are following Clara's Big Ride, she's trekking another 109 km, making her way to Kitchener today. You can learn more about the planned events for the evening and amazing things to do in the city here https://livingalpha.com/journal/why-will-the-city-of-kitchener-add-some-fun-to-clara-hughes-big-ride

to be fair to the nypd, and the good work they do, that is a known spot for motor vehicular red-light-running, and they sit there waiting for said infractions to ticket drivers. thus, i'd assume that's what they were doing, so we can all be happu.

Wow I'm so sorry that happened to you! It sounds a bit ridiculous. You made me wonder though --- as a bicyclist are your required to follow traffic laws? I am going to be buying a city bike to ride around New York soon as well. I never knew you had to stop for lights and obey all the traffic laws though. I always thought that was strictly for cars.

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About Me

While I love cycling and embrace it in all its forms, I'm also extremely critical. So I present to you my venting for your amusement and betterment. No offense meant to the critiqued. Always keep riding!